Lover of the Sea
by Takara Phoenix
Summary: Merman AU - Percy is an orphaned stable boy who has always been obsessed with mermen. When their prince catches one, Percy is determined to set the mesmerizing creature free, even before he realizes that it's the prince of the ocean himself, Nico. merman!Nico/Percy slash Nicercy


PJatO || Nicercy || PJatO || Nicercy || Lover of the Sea || Nicercy || PJatO || Nicercy || PJatO

Title: Lover of the Sea – The Stable Boy and the Sea Prince

Fandom: Percy Jackson and the Olympians / Heroes of Olympus; merman AU

PJatO Disclaimer: All rights reserved to Rick Riordan for he created the awesomeness that is Nico di Angelo. And everything else related to Percy Jackson and the Olympians / Heroes of Olympus. Aside from the Gods, of course. They are all copyright by the old Greeks. This fanfiction on the other hand is entirely mine. No money is made with this, though reviews are more than welcomed.

Warnings: shounen-ai, human-turned-merman, mentioned character death, anal, hetero

Main Pairing: Nico/Percy

Side Pairings: Ethan/Alabaster, Frank/Hazel/Leo, Hades/Persephone, Poseidon/Amphitrite(mentioned), Poseidon/Sally (past/implied)

Percy Jackson Characters: Perseus Jackson, Nico di Angelo, Leo Valdez, Hazel Levesque, Frank Zhang, Alabaster C. Torrington, Ethan Nakamura, Sally Jackson, Blackjack

Godly Characters: Triton, Hades, Persephone, Hecate

Summary: Percy is an orphaned stable boy at the palace. As a child, his mother used to tell him tales about the king of the oceans – Hades, part human, part vicious shark. One day, as he sneaks into the palace, he sees Prince Triton's newest conquest in a fish tank – part shark and part human. Percy is determined to rescue the handsome merman, even before he knows that it's the son of Hades.

Because every PJatO story with merpeople features Percy as the merman. So have some merman!Nico!

**Lover of the Sea**

_The Stable Boy and the Sea Prince_

Sally Jackson was a strong woman. She had managed to stay on her own, even after her parents' untimely death. And she had managed to raise her beloved son Percy all alone. He was her treasure, far more precious than all the riches in the palace. He was her sunshine, her little prince.

"Mommy! Story!", demanded Percy, making grabby motions for his mother's long hair.

His chubby cheeks were red, eyes large and innocent as any small child's. Little Percy was sitting on his mom's lap, his thumb caught between his pink lips. Sally smiled tenderly down at him, kissing his head and reaching out for the old picture book. Its thick leather-cover was worn out, the pages yellow and faded out a little. She was only a commoner, not able to read, just like her parents. That was why they had made this book. Her father had crafted it and her mother had filled it with colorful pictures of a fantastic underwater world. The only thing she had left from her long-gone parents. It was also Percy's favorite thing on the planet, because it held the world he dreamed of. Rocking Percy on her lap, she opened it at Percy's favorite page.

"Nico!", yelped Percy happily, tracing the figure on the page with his fingers.

"Now, do you want me to tell you the story, or do you know it so well I don't have to tell it?", teased Sally amused, closing the book slowly, to see the scandalized and horrified look on her son's face.

"No!", exclaimed Percy, lower lip quivering, shaking his head violently. "Please! Story!"

Laughing at the adorableness of her little boy, she opened the book again, this time at the first page. It showed a rift under the water, beautiful corals along its edges before the Earth tore into an endless, black pit. A single figure was swimming up from the pit – two tails, both like those of a strong, black shark, but the torso of a man and the handsome, pale face, framed with black curls. A hand – with fins between the fingers – was curled around a long, black trident, a silver crown adored with countless jewels on his his head and silken robes floating in the water as they hung loosely around his strong frame. Percy gaped in awe, hiding a little in his mom's embrace.

"Once upon a time, the ocean was a wild and untamed mistress", whispered Sally in her soft story-telling voice. "So wild, it tore the Earth apart. And from the deepest pit came one single being. A god, of so much power, he tamed the sea and became its ruler. And do you know his name?"

"King Hades!", exclaimed Percy, his nose pressed against his mom's shoulder. "Scary..."

"Oh, of course he is scary, my dear", laughed Sally kindly. "He scared the sea into submission, after all. The sea obeyed his call from there on and the creatures of the sea would be eternally grateful."

She turned the page to one where Hades looked a little less scary, the trident lifted above his head and many happy looking fishes and other sea creatures swimming around him. The picture was lighter in color, away from the dark pit after all. The ocean painted a soft blue this time and every fish in a different color. Percy clapped in delight, as he always did when he saw fishes.

"But the king was lonely", continued Sally and turned another page to show Hades half out of the water, his hand reaching out for a human woman. "So he reached for the shore, where he met a mortal princess named Persephone. They met every night, King Hades would tell her stories of the sea and Princess Persephone would tell him stories of the human world. And with every story, they fell more and more in love with each other."

"Pretty...", whispered Percy in awe, staring at Persephone.

Persephone had long hair of a light brown color, with flowers braided into it, her dress green as a fresh meadow, skin colored from the sun's kiss. She was such a stark contrast to Hades, yet the love could clearly be seen in their faces as they looked at each other.

"Yes, pretty", nodded Sally with a grin. "And King Hades found her to be very pretty too. He wanted to marry her, but her father, the mortal king Zeus, was enraged by this."

The next picture always scared Percy, because it showed the angry mortal king, pulling Persephone away from the shore, leaving Hades stuck in the water, reaching out for his love but unable to help.

"King Hades was desperate, he wished to have his love close again", continued Sally as she turned another page. "He was so desperate that he turned back to the pit where he had come from, praying and begging whatever Higher Being may have let him out of the pit of Tartarus to help him and his love now. The pit rumbled and roared as it spit out another being."

"Witchy-witch!", giggled Percy, clapping in delight, pointing at the picture.

The pages showed Hades, swimming next to the pit as it spit fire and flames, amidst the reddish spectacle was a woman with tentacles like an octopus beneath the waist-line and long, purple-black hair framing her pale body and censoring her breasts.

"The powerful... witchy-witch Hecate was born from the pit to aid him help", nodded Sally.

"Ni—ico!", demanded Percy with a pout, growing impatient.

"Yes, yes, we're getting there", laughed Sally amused, ruffling his hair. "The Lady Hecate went to help King Hades and as Princess Persephone managed to sneak out of the palace and to the shore to give her teary good-bye to her beloved before her father was to marry her off to someone far in the middle of the realms, far away from any beach. But Lady Hecate held such powerful magic, she could offer the princess three magical pearls that, put together on a silver string around the princess' neck, could turn her into a creature of the sea. And as she set foot into the water, she turned."

The next pages showed Persephone, walking into the water where Hecate and Hades were waiting. The princess was glowing and her feet were already transforming into a tail. Percy clapped loudly, cheering for the princess who got her love. Sally turned another page. There was Persephone, as a green-scaled mermaid, holding a tiny baby boy with two shark tails, while Hades had one arm around her, holding a girl, a bit older than the boy, also with two shark tails.

"Princess Persephone married the king and became the well-loved queen of the ocean. Soon after, she blessed the king with two heirs. First their daughter Bianca and then their son Nico."

"What's they do?", asked Percy in a nearly demanding tone of voice.

He was a very impatient boy and he demanded to get to his favorite page. Sally laughed as they finally reached the page they had started with. On one of the double pages was Bianca, older and clothed in silvery silk that floated beautifully in the ocean, a spear in her hand as a dozen of other mermaids surrounded her, looking just as fierce, all of them wearing armor made of sea-shells. The other page showing Nico – a strong, well-defined, olive-skinned human torso, attached to two black shark tails, black curls framing his face, his ears as dark as the pit his father had come from. The merman was laying on the beach, the sea-foam caressing him as he stared longingly out into the lands. Percy's attention was back on Nico, tracing his form. Even though the other page showed a dozen breathtakingly beautiful mermaids, Percy only stared at Nico.

"Lady Hecate's magic made it possible to turn the bravest fishes with the purest hearts into mermaids too", told Sally her son in a soft voice. "And while Princess Bianca became the leader of the army of mermaids, defending the oceans from the murderous humans, her brother, Prince Nico, was fascinated by the land, just like his father. And until today, many tell the tales of Princess Bianca and her mermaids who pull the vicious, menacing fishermen into the ocean and into their deaths and the tales of Prince Nico, who rescues the good-hearted sailors."

"Nico...", whispered Percy, his mouth forming an o as he continued to stare in amazement.

"Now, my little prince, you need to go to bed", declared Sally amused.

She put the worn-out book away and tugged her son into the hay-bed. Kissing his forehead, she turned to pull the patchwork curtain close so he wouldn't be as cold. She pulled her own tattered scarf tighter around her shoulders as she stared longingly out the window and at the palace. Never had she wanted riches or recognition, not for herself. But Percy, he started asking for his father and the winters grew colder and more heartless with every year.

/break\

"Percy! Percy! Percy!"

The loud and obnoxious voice of his best friend startled the horses in front of him. Turning some, the by now sixteen years old boy blared at his loud friend. The loudmouth was a Latino with wild curls, now bearing a sheepish grin. Sea-green eyes were rolled at him as Percy motioned for Leo to follow him out of the stables. The stables Percy was proud of to maintain.

His beloved mother had passed three winters ago, the cold gripping her aging body too tightly, not letting go of her. It had left Percy all on his own and not many months later had he been caught stealing by the guards. They had thrown him in front of the king, the merchant demanding for Percy to be 'put down', like some disobedient dog. Or at least cut his hand off for stealing. But King Poseidon had been kind. Instead of sentencing Percy to death, or just throwing him into a dungeon, the king had paid the merchant for his losses and gave Percy a place to stay and a job as a stable boy. "He is a mere child and he should not be punished for trying to live", had the king said.

Since then, Percy had served the royal family and taken care of their horses. Percy loved his job at the stables, he loved horses and he loved that the castle was so close to the ocean. The view was breathtaking and there was nothing that captured Percy's attention like the ocean.

Another great thing about working for the palace was his best friend Leo, a kitchen boy. The Latino was kicking a stone in front of him as the two boys walked along toward the palace.

"You won't believe me!", exclaimed Leo, gesturing wildly.

"I scarcely do. You spend too much time with the Stolls to be believable", teased Percy.

"Oh, Percy!", complained Leo. "Stay serious, just once!"

Percy cocked one eyebrow in disbelief. Leo was the least serious person he knew.

"Okay, what's the matter, lion cub?", prompted Percy, his hands in his pockets.

"Prince Triton returned from his journey to the souther Islands. And he brough another trophy!"

"Please no lion fur or elephant teeth", chanted Percy and closed his eyes.

"I don't think they call them elephant teeth...", mused Leo with a thoughtful expression before shaking his head. "No. It's amazing! It's a merman! A real, proper merman! He caught him on the ship on the way back! Now the merman is in a tank in the great hall! Come on!"

But Percy was frozen to the spot. He still remembered the beautiful colored pictures from the old book his mother had read to him as a child. Merpeople, the most amazing creatures on this planet. How could anyone want to capture such a majestic being? And then the threat settled in. Triton was prone for his trophies but his trophies were never alive.

"We need to free him!", declared Percy with a determination that stopped Leo in his tracks.

"W—What?", stuttered Leo, staring wide-eyed at his friend. "Are you crazy?!"

"They are at least as intelligent as humans, they even look half-human! It's murderer! Even worse than any animal the prince has ever killed!", hissed Percy with a fierce glare. "I—I can't let the prince kill such an amazing creature! I need to free him! But if he's in a tank, I'll help."

"And you got your lion cub sidekick for that, huh?", sighed Leo in defeat. "Okay, okay... How is anyone supposed to say no to those begging kitten eyes of yours, Perce? Come, brother."

Percy smiled brilliantly as Leo took his hand and pulled him along. It was true, the two orphaned servant boys were like brothers, being all each of them had left. There was absolutely nothing they wouldn't do for each other, even if it meant stealing from the prince.

The hall was dark when the two boys sneaked in, but the light of the moon shining through the long, heavy curtains illuminated the outlines of a tall water tank, the water inside shimmering a little. The figure inside was unique. The form of a man, broad shoulders and tall, but with two definite tails of a water animal of sorts. Percy was shaking in anticipation. All his life he had longed to see a real merman, had spend every free second at the beach, looking and longing. And now he would finally meet one in person. A handsome, strong, amazing merman. He was fidgeting with nerves.

"Hello?", whispered Percy into the darkness, his voice echoing in the large room.

The merman stiffened in his posture, but the way it looked, he didn't turn to look at the boys. Leo was half hiding behind Percy, fearful that this creature was evil and would eat them alive. Or something like that. Percy grinned amused by this, but his focus was still on the merman.

"We are going to free you", continued Percy seriously.

"Why should you? You are human", came a dark, velvety voice in reply.

A pleasant shudder ran down Percy's spine at the sound of it. "B—Because no one should be locked away like this, no human, no animal and certainly no... no merman..."

Something about his tone of voice must have picked the merman's interest, because he relaxed a little and turned to look at them. And along came curious Leo, ripping the thick curtains aside. The moonlight showered the merman, causing Percy to gasp loudly and clasp his hands over his mouth. Leo took a startled step back when Percy suddenly bowed down. Confused, the Latino took a closer look. Well, the merman was pretty handsome with the olive-skin, the deep, dark eyes and the curious curls framing his sharply cut face. But he was really no reason to bow down.

"What are you doing, human? I am not your worthless Prince Triton", snarled the merman.

"No, you're not", yelped Percy and shook his head. "You're the son of the mighty god of the sea himself, the Shadow of the Stormy Sea, the Savior of Sailors, y—you're Prince Nico."

"So wait, _that_'s Prince Charming you've been babbling on about ever since I met you?", stammered Leo stunned, his eyes wide as he took another look at the merman. "Huh..."

Now that he looked closer, he saw the black silk loosely swimming around his muscular frame, a crown of silver corals adored with rubies on his head. He did look royal, even his stance did. But before Leo could start asking the million questions that were forming in his head, the doors burst open. Prince Triton and a couple of his guards stormed in, weapons drawn.

"Who dares to break into the royal palace?", barked the prince furiously.

It took Leo and Percy only one look at each other to know what their strategy was. Percy yelped in a girly way and attached himself to one arm of the prince while Leo acted as though he fainted so the prince could wrap his free arm around the Latino's waist.

"Oh, our gracious, strong prince came to our rescue", cooed Percy, batting his eyelashes.

"T—The beast is so fearsome!", gasped Leo, one hand against the prince's chest.

"What are you two doing here?", asked the prince, not sounding as angry anymore.

"We heard of our amazing prince's latest conquest and wished to see it for ourselves", said Percy with the faintest hint of fear. "But oh, it scared us so much. We're glad to have such a strong and courageous prince at our side now to protect us from the beast."

Prince Triton seemed pleased to have the two helpless, pretty boys in his arms. He motioned for his guards to leave and as the doors closed, Leo and Percy bumped fists behind the prince's back.

"Now, my lovelies", chuckled the prince and stepped up to the tank. "This beast, it came to our ship as the useless captain had crashed it into the rocks. After I single-handedly brought the crew to the shore and saved their lives as this beast tried to attack us, I captured it to save future souls."

"Oh, so brave!", chimed Leo, clapping and batting his eyelashes at the prince.

"And so handsome!", sighed Percy, biting his lips in a tempting way.

Triton laughed loudly, his hands on the boys' lower backs. "Ah, yes. Indeed, I was very handsome while being brave. The beast attacked us furiously. But its stupid, small brain could not keep up with my superior skills as a hunter. It was an easy catch and within a week my most cunning taxidermist will be here to examine it and see how to stuff it best for my trophy chambers. Now come, my pretties. I will show you my glorious trophy-room!"

The prince steered the two pretty humans away again, leaving Nico all alone with Ethan again. The merman heaved a sigh. He should have known better than to get his hopes up like that. But those eyes of the same color as his beloved sea, they looked so honest and trustworthy. And the owner of the eyes had been too cute to be true when he had even bowed down in front of Nico. No human even treated him like an equal, much less like the royalty he was. Shaking his head, he tried not to think too much about the green-eyed boy. He had more important things to do than dwelling on pretty things like those. He needed to figure out a way to escape. Turning slightly, he looked at his best friend questioningly. The pitch-black octopus just glared fiercely.

"This is all your fault", started Ethan and shook his head. "I told you no good could come from saving a human prince. Their royalty is not like ours, they are not kind and loving, they're cruel and narcissistic. Of course you'd get us captured like that! Oh, I can hear your sisters laughing at us for getting captured in the first place and do you have _any_ idea how furious Alabaster will be?!"

About mid-rant did the octopus turn into his truer form – the upper half that of an Asian-looking human, the lower half still of an octopus. Lady Hecate had one child, as powerful as she was. His name was Alabaster. But Alabaster was feeling just like Hades had back when he had been the only one. Lonely. So albeit all mermaids and mermen had been created by turning fishes – a simple task while turning a human like Persephone had been hard and powerful magic – she had taken Ethan and Frank, two ship-wrecked fishermen that Nico had saved, and turned them into octopus mermen. Now mermen and mermaids with the body of an octopus were magical. The Asians had been eternally grateful to Nico and the Nico and Ethan soon became inseparable friends. Frank however had been far too fascinated by Hazel. It was alright, Hecate wanted her son to never feel alone again and with Frank and Ethan as the same kind as he was, he wasn't alone anymore. He was even less alone when he fell in love with Ethan and the two became mates.

While Hecate was the adviser of King Hades, her son, Frank and Ethan had become something similar for Hades' children. Alabaster and Bianca were nearly always together, aside from when she went to hunt those who mistreated their beloved sea, together with her huntresses. Frank had become Hazel's mate, the youngest of Hades' children. And Ethan was Nico's conscience.

"I know, Ethan", sighed Nico annoyed and glared at his friends. "But that is not helpful."

"Well, I don't see how I can be helpful at all", growled Ethan, his arms crossed over his chest. "It's not like I can leave the water, just like you. Otherwise I could probably figure out how to get out of this misery. But right now, all we can do is sit and wait and hope everything evens out."

Sitting and waiting however was nothing Nico particularly enjoyed. Though Ethan was right. They could get out of the tank and run – literally so even. But once a merman left the sea's water, they were never to return to it, their tails forever turning into legs and not even Lady Hecate's magic would be great enough to change them back. No, this would be the very last resort. As long as they were in this salt-water tank, they could still be who they were.

"We'll find a way", whispered Nico determined.

/break\

They did not find a way, not in the next five days. But he found something different. Love.

During the day, Prince Triton liked to parade him around like the trophy he claimed Nico to be. But during the night, Percy had sneaked in. Every night. And even though he couldn't be any help on his own, he still came to see Nico and talk to him. Percy had told him about his grandparents and Nico remembered how he had once saved them, many years ago. Which was the reason why they had gotten so interested in the old legends and why their picture of Nico was so incredibly accurate. Now Nico found himself very relieved to have rescued those two humans in particular, because otherwise his Percy would have never been born.

And oh, Percy was everything. Everything Nico had always longed for. He had the kindest heart and the cleverest mind – yet in an unconventional way. The way he had tricked Triton, together with Leo, to not put both of them into the dungeons. It had been the trickiest thing Nico had ever seen, even he had believed the act. But when Percy had returned the next day and explained it and pleaded Nico to forgive him for the things he had said, Nico understood.

Percy was also very loyal – if the way he kept returning every night was anything to go by. And just beautiful. Surely the most beautiful thing Nico had ever seen beyond the sea. The way he smiled was contagious and his eyes, his eyes let any emerald pale in comparison.

They spend every night, endless hours, together and just talked. Not a second was wasted in silence as Percy had all these questions about the sea and Nico had all these questions about the land. Once they had covered most of those, they had moved on to more personal matters. Nico was saddened to hear that even though he had saved Percy's grandparents, there had been a greater evil to take them away too early after all. That Percy had never been able to meet his father and had lost his mother years ago saddened Nico even more. Someone who obviously held as much love inside his heart as Percy did deserved someone to share it with. What didn't sadden him was to learn that his relationship with the elvish boy was only friendship and nothing more. He was startled to learn that Leo was not an elf, but rather just human. Too bad, his little sister Hazel had always been fascinated by elves – many years ago, she used to have a pet-elf named Sammy, but she had to let him go again. It was also a relief to learn that there no one to hold Percy's love at the moment.

So they talked, four long nights, every night until the golden sun rose up into the sky and the guards started their rounds again. Nico had never met someone as easy to talk to. Last night, he had even gotten to introduce Percy to Ethan (which had been quite the surprise for Percy, mind you). And if even Ethan trusted Percy enough not to run to Prince Triton and tell him about the second merman he had captured, then that showed just what a good person Percy truly was. Because Ethan was skeptical and didn't trust easily. But even Ethan got along well with Percy.

"I'm sorry that I can't help you", whispered Percy as he entered through the windows on the fifth night, just like he had done the past four nights. "But... Leo is the only one I trust enough to help."

And Leo was so busy with the repairs of the Argo II, Prince Triton's ship which had been nearly completely destroyed when he had captured Nico. They were supervised and ordered to work at night so they would not bother anyone during the day when royals walked through the great gardens where the ship was laying. No one wished to actually see the workers do their work. But they were being supervised so Leo couldn't sneak away either and during night time was the only time they could sneak into the hall where Ethan and Nico were being held.

"You don't need to apologize every night, amato", whispered Nico amused.

He had his arms resting on the tank's upper edge, supporting his body so he could reach out and caress Percy's cheek softly. It turned a brilliant pink at that. Nico licked his lips hungrily.

"You never told me, what language is that? The language of mermen?", asked Percy eagerly.

"It's Italian", laughed the son of Hades and shook his head. "I once saved a mortal woman named Maria in Italy. She had been so very grateful that she wished to repay me in some way. I agreed to let her teach me Italian and said with that, her debt would be paid."

"Why are you doing this anyway?", asked Percy concerned. "The... rescuing?"

"Because it is my duty", shrugged Nico with a frown. "My sister punishes and I reward. Those who mistreat our sea and its creatures get pulled into the deepest darkness, never to return and never to torture anything ever again. And those who respect our sea and love it like we do, they don't deserve to die at her hands. So I save them. The captain of the Argo II, he is a good man, I know he is. And so is his crew. I could not have let Captain Blofis die like that. It was my misfortune that they had your prince on board of their ship. But I don't regret saving the crew."

"You're a good man, Prince Nico", smiled Percy softly.

And his smile was so tender, loving and beautiful, it was all the reward Nico would ever want.

"Would you two please stop with the flirting? You make me sick", interrupted Ethan annoyed. "We're in a life-or-death situation and you keep batting your eyelashes at each other like lovesick guppies. We need to find a way out of here, two more days and Triton will _kill_ us."

Nico and Percy blushed brightly, each looking into another direction. But Ethan was right.

/break\

The next night, Nico was determined to steal a kiss from Percy. If he was going to die hours later, he would at least have that first. Percy's kiss would be the last thing he would remember.

Of course, since Percy never did what one expected of him, he had to ruin this plan. In the best way possible. Because when he sneaked in, he wasn't alone. He had Leo with him.

"How?", asked Nico stunned. "I thought you said the ship's repairs would take at least a month."

"Well, not finished yet", grunted Leo as he opened the windows as wide as possible. "But we caused a distraction, stole a cart with a horse and ran. Now we need to _hurry_. Before they notice that it was all a ploy to distract them from us stealing, well, you."

A cart was pulled in, one for the transport of long wooden planks and such. Together, Percy and Leo could barely push the tank with Ethan and Nico from its stand onto the cart and at one point, they were sure it would fall over. But they managed. Leo hastily secured the tank while Percy took the reigns and ushered the beautiful black horse on to bring them far away.

"Why are you doing this?", asked Nico softly. "You risk your life for me and you don't even know me. Percy, he... has gotten attached and he's just crazy, but what motives do you have?"

"Me? Oh, I'm crazy too", replied Leo with a manic grin before turning serious. "But I don't want any creature to suffer either. And killing you is really not okay. So I won't let that happen. Also, if they throw Percy into the dungeons for this, I'd be pretty much... alone. And bored. So I can as well join him down there. We're going to have a blast and we'd finally be able to sleep in again."

"Right, King Poseidon's Dungeons – the place to be", snorted Percy and rolled his eyes.

Nico nodded stiffly, glaring thoughtful. He could not possibly let Percy and Leo return to this realm. The dungeon would be the merciful option. They had just stolen their prince's most precious possession. After the days he had spend with Triton bragging on how he had captured Nico and showing off to his parents, King Poseidon and Queen Amphitrite, Nico was pretty sure he knew the prince. And there was no way that he would anybody live who'd take this glory away from him. Regardless of how pretty they were and how cute they could look.

They made their way toward the beach and in the far distance, they could hear horns and the alarm bell. They had been discovered. From now on, it was a race against time. Percy grew more and more nervous. They had to make it to the beach first, he needed to set Nico and Ethan free before the army could catch up with them. Biting his lower lip hard, he urged Blackjack on to run faster and faster, to bring them to their destination. Blackjack was aside from Leo the only friend Percy had. He loved this horse so much and he knew if any horse in this realm could make it, it was Blackjack. Sometimes, he ran that fast, it was as though they were flying.

And finally, after what felt like agonizingly long hours, they reached the shore. Percy and Leo hurried so much that at the end, they stumbled and all four of them landed in the water. Nico gasped, relieved for the fresh water, the feeling of being back with his beloved, dark sea.

"Finally!", groaned Ethan and turned back into his merman-form too.

"Woah!", yelped Leo and stared in awe at Ethan, poking his tentacles. "Kinky!"

"Really...?", asked Percy with a deadpan. "You see an octopus turning into a half-human and that is all you have to say? You drive me completely insane, Leo Valdez!"

Leo grinned sheepishly and blushed slightly. Nico smiled amused by this while fidgeting with the horn-shell around her neck. Blowing it, he could only pray that it would be heard soon.

"Well, I... suppose this is... good-bye", whispered Percy, to the waist in freezing cold water.

Nico frowned displeased. This could not be good-bye. If he left now, they would catch Percy and at best, throw him into the dungeons, never to go to the shore and see Nico again. Never had anyone listened to his stories with such a spark in their eyes, never had anyone make him laugh like Percy had. Never had anyone kept Nico's full attention like that. He wrapped his arms around Percy's waist and pulled him down, though Percy did not even have a chance to yelp as he hit the cold water, because Nico's lips caught the yelp. And the moan that followed it.

"If you tell me that you've been missing because you spend your time seducing a mortal, I will scale you alive, brother! We were worried sick and you're here ravishing a mortal!"

Nico and Percy bolted apart, staring wide-eyed at the merpeople that emerged from the sea. Percy yelped and tried to hide behind Nico, but the merman was holding him too fiercely for that. There was King Hades, lord of the sea, with his wife, Queen Persephone. Then there was a mermaid with golden eyes, being held by an Asian-looking octopus merman, one red tentacle around her possessively. There was even Lady Hecate, with all of her black-purple and powerful glory. And next to her was the most furious looking octopus merman, with purple tentacles and messy brown hair, clinging wet to his freckled face. The freckled one made his way over to Ethan.

"You idiot! You drove me crazy! With worry, asshole!", yelled the octopus merman.

"I missed you too, Alabaster", smiled Ethan amused, his tentacles interlacing with Alabaster's.

He pulled Alabaster up against his chest and sealed his lips in a passionate kiss. Percy blushed and averted his eyes, rather focusing on the royal family than on the intimate moment.

"Those are Percy and Leo, they saved Ethan and me", said Nico firmly. "Without them, we would be dead by tomorrow morning. They risked their lives and everything they have to save us, after this realm's selfish prince captured me as a... trophy."

"Oh...", mumbled the golden-eyed mermaid. "Well, then I owe you for saving my brother."

"B—Brother?", stuttered Percy stunned. "But I never heard of a third child!"

"Well, she was born a few centuries after me and Bianca and she is more involved in helping our folk than mixing with mortals", smiled Nico amused, before turning seriously toward their parents. "They betrayed their own prince and king to save my life, even though they had no reason to. The king's men are following us, they will catch up soon."

"Well, then we better get out of here", grunted the red octopus merman before leaning down and whispering (rather loudly) to Hazel. "Say, doesn't the cute one look like your former pet elf."

"You're right, Frank", nodded Hazel thoughtful, tilting her head.

Leo yelped as a red tentacle wrapped around his waist and lifted him up into the air. A blush spread over his cheeks as a hand with golden fins between the fingers and some single scales on the back of her hand tenderly caressed the Latino's cheek and tilted his head some.

"Frank is right, we should leave", interrupted Hades, glaring at his curious daughter. "Put it down."

"But it's cute!", whined Hazel, pouting a bit as Frank sat Leo down.

"_It_ rescued our lives!", objected Nico with a fierce glare, holding tightly onto Percy. "They both did! I can not abandon them and leave them to their own death after they saved Ethan and me!"

"And what are we supposed to do?", asked Hades, arms crossed over his chest. "Your sister Bianca is responsible for dragging mortals beneath the surface and she is busy searching for you in the colder parts of the ocean. Also, her method has the side-effect of death."

"Lady Hecate! There must be a way", urged Nico on, turning pleading eyes on Hecate.

Percy's eyes widened nervously. Was Nico truly offering what he thought the prince was? But they didn't deserve such a grand present. All they did was doing the right thing.

"You know very well that it's not that easy, Prince Nico", warned Hecate and shook her head. "I need a pearl from the deepest part of Tartarus for this kind of magic to work."

Looking around, Percy noticed that both, Frank and Ethan, had a single, blue pearl on a silver thread around their necks. The same magic she had used on Persephone in the story. Percy bit his lips nervously. Becoming a merman was probably the second most wanted thing in his life and for a long time, it had been the sole desire he had. Until he had met Nico, because now the most desired thing for him was Nico's safety. He grabbed Nico's strong upper arms tighter.

Queen Persephone took a long, thoughtful look around. Frank was still poking Leo with his tentacles everywhere (most of those places making Leo yelp and blush) and Hazel was still grabbing Leo's face to tilt it into all kinds of directions to look at him properly. And Nico and Percy were holding each other so tightly, it nearly looked as though they were one. Her fingers went up to play with the three pearls on her necklace. Back then, it had been the first time for Hecate to use this spell, not knowing how much power she needed. Only later did she figure out that to turn a human into an octopus merman, she only needed one pearl, even a smaller one was enough too.

"I have three pearls, if I give you two of them back, can you use them?", asked Persephone.

"Why would you suggest such a thing, love?", wanted Hades to know. "What if it renders the magic Lady Hecate put on you useless? No, we are not risking that."

"We all know by now how this magic works", smiled Persephone amused, fidgeting with the thread around her neck. "And don't you see the way Nico looks at this boy? I think our son comes more after you than both of you want to admit. He lost his heart to a mortal, Hades. Do you truly wish to be the one to keep them apart? You know better than that, love."

Hades frowned displeased and stared at the mortal boy in his son's arms. "Lady Hecate?"

The witch grinned mischievously as she worked her magic, a storm gathering above them. Percy was not sure what happened, but he was in enough pain to black out. When he came to it again, he was laying half on top of Blackjack. Blackjack with a fish-tail. Percy blinked a couple of times, trying to figure out what was going on. Looking down at himself, he noticed that he was naked. Which wasn't a problem since his neither parts had turned into a single, blue fish-tail.

"Good, you're awake. Leo woke up a couple of minutes ago already, amato", smiled Nico.

Turning his head some, Percy looked up at Nico. The son of Hades was holding the reigns of Blackjack, guiding the horse. Groaning slightly, Percy tried to flap his tail once. Wow.

"W—Where's Leo?", asked Percy nervously, looking around frantically.

"Over here! Look! I got a tail!", exclaimed Leo's loud voice somewhere to Percy's left.

Turning some, Percy had to smile at what he saw. Leo was more or less swimming on his own, with Frank swimming above him, his tentacles holding onto Leo's waist to guide him. The Latino had a bright red tail, wildly flapping fins as he soared through the water.

"I... I am... I'm a... merman...", whispered Percy, fingers clawed into Blackjack's mane.

"Yes", agreed Nico. "And such a beautiful one at that. You and Leo can start a new life now."

"Can... Can I start a new life... with you?", asked Percy unsure, blushing. "I know that's asking too much, you're a prince and you already made it possible for me to become a merman to begin with, but... I like you. I... I think I love you. I want to be with you."

"Why do you think I wanted you to be part of my world?", asked Nico amused, his hands on Percy's hips and lifting him off the horse, whirling him around in the water. "Because I want you to be mine. I don't want you to be a mortal that will grow old and die and leave me alone."

"Are you serious?", asked Percy, his hands on Nico's chest.

"Yes, he is!", called Hazel, Frank, Leo, Alabaster and Ethan loud and annoyed.

"Really now!", groaned Leo and shook his head. "He can be that slow sometimes!"

"Let's hope you're not as slow", chimed Hazel mischievously.

She was swimming beneath Leo, on her back so she could look into his cute face, running one hand down the Latino's torso, causing him to blush once more. She grinned at that. Her grin grew even more when Leo yelped wildly as one of Frank's tentacles teased an inappropriate spot.

"Oh for the sea's sake, do we have to listen to even more inappropriate ruckus from now on?", groaned Hades annoyed, him, Persephone and Hecate swimming in the lead. "As though Frank and Hazel had not been loud enough. Don't snicker, you two aren't better, Ethan, Alabaster."

The two octopus mermen blushed and fell silence. Persephone laughed amused.

"Maybe we need a larger palace?", suggested the queen amused.

Percy tuned the others and their conversations out as he focused on Nico. The dark eyes were sparkling amused as Nico observed him. Sea-green eyes wandered down to take a better look at himself. His fingers had fins spanning between them, light, blue scales scattered on his hands and up to his elbow. His tail was relatively short, but sleek and elegant. And beautiful.

"I'm... a merman...", whispered Percy again, still baffled by this.

"Yes, still", nodded Nico amused, pulling him closer up against him. "And still breathtaking."

"Oh, Nico, you have no idea how much this means to me", murmured Percy, his arms tightly wrapped around Nico's neck, face hiding in the crook on that tempting neck. "You have no idea how much it means to me to be with you. I've had a crush on you since I was three, but you are so much more, so much more amazing than I would have ever thought possible."

"You are far more than any human I have ever met too", chuckled Nico.

"If the two of you would stop getting lost in each other's eyes and instead give us your attention for a moment. We arrived at the palace. I suggested you could show your little friend around", interrupted Hades' voice them. "Hazel and Frank already stole the obnoxious one."

"The obnoxious one is called Leo", chuckled Nico amused before bowing a little. "Thank you father. I will take Percy. With me, I mean. I will show him around."

"Oh, we all know what you really meant", laughed Persephone softly. "Now hush, go children."

Nico grasped Percy's hand and pulled him along. The palace was beautiful, made of crystals. Nico showed him the coral gardens and about every room in the palace, until they reached Nico's chambers. Percy blushed slightly and bit his lips, looking around.

"So... I can stay... with you?", asked Percy and yawned. "Because I'm tired. Turning merman is very exhausting... So... can I... stay here? With you? And take a nap?"

Nico laughed softly and laid down, Percy in his arms, waiting for sleep to claim him. From now on, Nico would be the one protecting Percy, whether in his sleep or wake. Because Percy was his.

_~*~ The End ~*~_


End file.
